CHICAGO, March 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today reported estimated U.S. mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) asset flows for February 2018. In February, investors pulled $8.4 billion out of U.S. equity passive funds, marking the first monthly outflow for the category since April 2015. On the active front, investors pulled $17.7 billion, compared with $24.1 in the previous month. Morningstar estimates net flow for mutual funds by computing the change in assets not explained by the performance of the fund and net flow for ETFs by computing the change in shares outstanding.

Morningstar's report about U.S. asset flows for February 2018 is available here. Highlights from the report include:

• International equity was the leading category group in February with $22.8 billion in flows overall, with majority of the inflow going to passive funds. Taxable bond saw inflows of $5.2 billion, the smallest for the category since November 2016.
• January's flows across all category groups totaled $128.1 billion. In contrast, February's total amounted to a negative $7.7 billion.
• The Morningstar Categories with the highest inflows in February were foreign large blend, intermediate-term bond, and ultrashort bond, with respective inflows of $14.3 billion, $8.2 billion, and $5.0 billion. Large blend landed on the bottom-flowing list in February and high-yield bond experienced outflows for the fifth consecutive month.
• Among top U.S. fund families in February, American Funds was the leader in active flows with a $2.2 billion inflow. On the passive front, Vanguard continued to be the top fund family, with inflows of $13.1 billion, compared with January's $30.4 billion.
• The active fund with the highest inflow was Fidelity Series Investment Grade Bond, which has a Morningstar Quantitative Rating™ of Bronze, at $1.7 billion. T. Rowe Price U.S. Treasury Long-Term, with a Quantitative Rating of Silver, and Oakmark International, with a Morningstar Analyst Rating™ of Gold, followed with inflows of $1.2 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively. Silver-rated iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF was the leader on the passive front with $6.9 billion of flows in February.
• On the bottom-flowing list in February, Bronze-rated T. Rowe Price New Income had the highest outflows on the active side, $1.7 billion. Passive funds with the largest outflows included SPDR S&P 500 ETF, Vanguard Institutional Index, two iShares ETFs, and a SPDR high-yield bond ETF.

To view the complete report, please click here.

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About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and institutional investors in the private capital markets. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $195 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Dec. 31, 2017. The company has operations in 27 countries.

Morningstar's Manager Research Group consists of various wholly owned subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc. including, but not limited to, Morningstar Research Services LLC. Morningstar's Manager Research Group produces various ratings including the Morningstar Analyst Rating for funds and the Morningstar Quantitative Rating for funds. The Analyst Rating is derived from a qualitative assessment process performed by a manager research analyst, whereas the Morningstar Quantitative Rating uses a machine-learning model based on the decision-making processes of Morningstar's analysts, their past ratings decisions, and the data used to support those decisions. In both cases, the ratings are forward-looking assessments and include assumptions of future events, which may or may not occur or may differ significantly from what was assumed. The Analyst Ratings and Quantitative Ratings are statements of opinions, subject to change, are not to be considered as guarantees, and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. This press release is for informational purposes only; references to securities should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the securities.

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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.